| This
is a guide to the essential items for creating a
blog. This guide is focused on two assumptions:
First, the blogger using this guide wants free,
user-freindly resources; and second, the blogger
using this guide wants to begin quickly. Blog Host
There are many blog
hosts on the 'Net that offer solid blogging
resources. However, Jump Portal recommends Blogger as a host. Blogger has all
of the essentials, such as RSS feed, mutliple
blogs per account, templates, email posting, and
WYSIWYG post editing. Blogger also offers in-blog
search and connections to other blogs (at the top
of the blog page).
Blogger also has
hosting for in-post pics. This makes putting
graphics in entries very easy and the images will
load faster because they don't have to be taken
from another host.
There are free blog
hosts that offer more, such as post categorizing.
However, Blogger is a stable, proven host. Also,
for advanced users, you can put your blog in your
own domain.
Image
Host
If you want images
for your blog, you have to get an image host.
Jump Portal prefers Photobucket. This image host is blogger
freindly, and actually allows posts to be made to
the major blog hosts from the Photobucket
website. Of course, Photobucket formats image
tags for easy placement in your blog.
Hit
Counter
Technically, any
hit counter should work for your blog, and there
is little difference from one to the next.
However, Blogpatrol is an excellent little
counter, giving good information about the
traffic coming to your blog. If you don't need a
history of hits (it only tracks 10 days),
Blogpatrol will work fine. Has an annoying amount
of advertising, though.
Directories
There are hundreds
of blog directories and portals. Blogwise seems to deliver a
consistant amount of traffic. LS Blogs seems to produce some
traffic, although not as much as Blogwise. Jump
Portal recommends that new bloggers carefully
prepare entry descriptions before going crazy
across the Internet and submitting to
directories.
See "Blog
Directories" menu for more directories.
Technorati
Although a
directory, Technorati belongs to a category
itself. A blogger who can master Technorati's
descriptive tags can move a lot of traffic to his
or her blog. Beginning bloggers can easily
incorporate Technorati tags in blog templates.
Advanced users should fully explore Technorati's
tag features by changing and adding tags.
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